Alien in the House

didn’t appear to have anything to do with the A-Cs, meaning it was more random than we were used to.
    The rain started right after Reader sent everyone else back to bed. “He was right,” I said as I went to the kitchen window so I could check to be sure what I was hearing was indeed rain.
    “Who was?” Jeff asked.
    “My ‘uncle’. He told me to get inside because it was going to rain soon.”
    “So he has a good weather app on his phone,” Reader said. “You need to stop thinking of these men as anything other than dangerous assassins.”
    He was probably right. Only, Reader hadn’t been the one talking to the Dingo and Surly Vic. “I’m more worried about Raul than the Dingo.”
    “Get away from the window,” Jeff said. “Because you’re an easy target right now.”
    “Not if the building’s shield is still up.”
    Jeff grumbled but didn’t argue.
    Our penthouse took up half of the top floor, meaning that we had a lot of windows in the various rooms. Our half had a view of the Circle from most of the windows, though we could also see our street, the Zoo, and the heavy foliage behind us that wasn’t actually part of our property.
    From the kitchen I could see the street and the Circle pretty easily, as well as the embassies across from us. The rain was falling steadily now—not too hard, but you’d want to have a head covering of some kind if you were outside.
    Couldn’t see anyone outside lurking, on either rooftops or in shadows. Hard to tell at the park in the Circle, but no dangerous lurker stood out to me over there, either.
    Memory nudged. “James, I forgot, Santiago had a message for you.” Wanted to continue to call him Commander but just didn’t have the energy for it. If he wanted to be mad at me, so be it. I was done with whatever fight we were actually having.
    “He did?”
    I swallowed. “Yeah. It . . . it was the last thing he ever said.” Blinked tears away. I could cry now, but tears weren’t going to bring Reyes back, nor were they going to figure out what was going on. Supposedly we’d caught his killer, but if there was someone behind Eugene’s dementia, I wanted to ensure they paid for what they’d done, and soon.
    “Ah.” Reader’s tone was very gentle. “What was it?”
    “He said to tell you that he hoped you were right and ready.”
    “That’s it?”
    “That’s it.”
    “Do you know what he meant?” Jeff asked.
    “No,” Reader said slowly. “I’ll run over the last few conversations he and I had. Hopefully I’ll figure out what he wanted me to know.”
    “Santiago also asked me, specifically me, to clean out his desk. Me, not anyone else. But that was before he gave me the message for you.”
    “Well, that’ll be easier than you might think. Jeff’s going to be moving into Santiago’s old office.”
    “Oh. Good.” Didn’t relish this idea, but there was undoubtedly nothing that could be done about it.
    “James, don’t you need to go home and get some sleep?” Jeff asked. Pointedly, if my ears were any judge.
    “I’m staying here tonight.”
    “We love you, James, but you’re not staying in the room with us,” Jeff said.
    Reader chuckled. “No, I’m actually taking a guest room. But I have Walter on notice to wake me up if either one of you tries to get out of your rooms tonight.”
    “We’re not going anywhere tonight,” Jeff said firmly.
    Heard movement, then someone put their hand on my shoulder. “Kitty,” Reader said quietly, “stop looking for the bad guys.”
    “Why? They’re out there.”
    “Yeah, they are.” He turned me away from the window gently. “None of what’s happened today is your fault.” It was nice to hear, but I had a feeling Jeff had indicated that Reader needed to play nice with me.
    “I didn’t catch Clarence and none of you believe I saw him.”
    “True, you didn’t catch whoever you saw. But I know Jeff and I both believe you saw someone. And if it wasn’t Clarence, it had to be an A-C because no one else could outrun you. And that means it’s likely someone spying for our enemies, because Alpha Team doesn’t have someone spying on our Embassy.”
    “I gave a dangerous package to the world’s best assassin.”
    “You did. If they were going to use it, they wouldn’t have protected you.”
    “You really think so?”
    “I really do.”
    “Santiago died at my dinner party, and Eugene took the bullet intended for me.”
    “You caught Santiago’s murderer and you were